Chief Minister Harish Rawat today called upon farmers to restore the lost glory of apples by taking up collective initiatives to boost prospects of its cultivation in the state.
“Our apples have a very natural and distinctive taste and were coveted by no less than former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. She procured apples from Chaubatia and Ramgarh and sent them as gifts to world leaders. Our apples have natural taste due to the use of organic fertilisers and farmers should ensure that they bring back the past glory of Uttarakhand apples,” said Harish Rawat, while speaking at the apple festival today.
He said he had directed the Principal Secretary, horticulture, to start an apple mission so that issues related to its cultivation, such as procuring good quality root stock, were resolved.
On the other hand, Chief Secretary Rakesh Sharma said after his recent visits to Mori, Harsil and Naugaon (Uttarkashi), he was pleasantly surprised to see apple cultivation being taken up by farmers in a big way.
“The government can only act as a facilitator. I implore upon the farmers to form federations or cooperatives and take the marketing and production work in your own hands,” he said.
Similar views were echoed by Principal Secretary, Department of Horticulture, Ranbir Singh, who said the issue of providing market to farmers was also discussed during the meeting of the policy planning group.
“There was a general view among the members of policy group to push for cooperatives under the principle of one village, one form,” said Ranbir Singh.
During the festival, around 11 varieties of apples, including the golden delicious, gala and local varieties were put on display.
In Uttarakhand, apple is spread in 31,517 hectare area and the production is 1.22 lakh metric tonne and is spread in the districts of Uttarkashi, Dehradun, Chamoli and Nainital.
